1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector mounted on a printed circuit board.
2. DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ARTS
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (Serial ATA) connectors provide a storage interface for ATAPI (Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface) devices and hard disk drives, which are main storage peripheral devices of computer systems. Conventionally, a Serial ATA connector comprises an insulating housing and a plurality of terminals received in the housing. Such Serial ATA plug and receptacle connectors can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,552 and Taiwan Patent Issue Nos. 493301, 493804, and 509393. Generally, the insulative housing of the Serial ATA connector includes a main portion, a mating portion extending from the main portion and receiving the terminals, and one side arm extending from one lateral side of the main portion. The side arm defines an inner groove for guiding insertion of a complementary mating connector. A space is defined between a lateral edge of the mating portion and the adjacent side arm. However, such conventional Serial ATA connectors as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,340, usually suffer from a breakage over a period of use, under repeated insertion, and withdrawal of a mated cable connector, which will adversely influence the signal transmission. Specifically, the housing will be easily broken along a vertical line on the side arm where the side arm connects to the main portion when the complementary connector is pulled in a right-and-left direction repeatedly. Similarly, the housing will be also easily broken along a horizontal line on the side arm where the side arm connects to the main portion and on the mating portion where the mating portion connects to the main portion when the complementary mating connector is pulled up and down repeatedly.
Hence, it is desirable to enhance the structural stability of Serial ATA connectors to ensure the signal transmission reliability.
Accordingly, it is a major object of the present invention to provide a Serial ATA connector having an enhanced housing structure for improving the rigidity of the connector and improving overall connector integrity.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a Serial ATA connector in accordance with the present invention for engaging a complementary connector, includes an insulating housing, a plurality of terminals received in the housing, and a pair of board locks retained in the housing for securing the housing on a printed circuit board. The housing comprises an H-shaped body having a middle section and a mating tongue extending from the middle section. The mating tongue defines a plurality of channels receiving corresponding terminals. The body has a pair of arms extending parallelly beside the mating tongue, each arm including a wall extending above the mating tongue. A space is defined between the walls and the mating tongue for receiving the mating complementary connector.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.